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Ok, I come here looking for help and advice.

I have found that when starting your preparedness measures, it is best to start at the beginning in order to ensure you have everything you need to build up your foundation. Start your preparations with a 72-hour kit and then create a vehicle 72-hour kit. Once that is complete, you can begin ensuring your basic needs are met for longer periods or begin targeting other layers of preparedness. The 52-Weeks to Preparedness series offers a complete list of getting your home and family ready for unexpected disasters. Having multiple emergency plans is another example of layering up. Not only do...

Most conservatives believe that the re-election of President Barack Obama is going to bring dire economic circumstances over the next four years, which could possibly drive the Nation into total collapse.The belief is likely not far-fetched considering the current state of affairs in American economics as the United States hurls toward a “fiscal cliff” which will combine rising tax rates and government shutdowns, the government prepares to raise its debt limit again to the tune of $2.4 trillion and the number of Americans out of work continues to trend at dismal levels.All of the ominous headlines about the shape of...

In an emergency evacuation, there will always be people who stay behind to protect their personal belongings. People who ignored evacuation warnings had to be rescued and some lost their lives in one of the worst storms in the history of natural disasters in the United States.The biggest challenges were hunger and cold because of electrical outages. More than 8.1 million homes and businesses lost power.In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, city leaders across the country are asking how their city would respond to a similar disaster and examining their preparedness and self-reliance needs. Sandy would have resulted in much...

While three monthsÂ’ worth of preparedness may seem like a long time, history confirms that it takes a combination of only a few emergencies for things like power, water and health services to be overloaded and run-down for weeks on end.For instance, New Orleans is still being rebuilt years later, and Japan was still cleaning up their nuclear meltdown more than six months after the tsunami. Should a severe snowstorm or forest fire cut you off from the grid, it certainly has the potential to last longer than a week. Thus, as you progress in your preparedness lifestyle, you will...

It is a glorious day The Lord has given us. This morning I extend an honest “Thank you” to the American electorate, for they provided a snapshot of themselves with unusual clarity. Six weeks ago I declared that the election was not a choice between two candidates as much as it was a verdict on us as a nation, and with near ubiquity and persuasive forcefulness that verdict has been rendered. From coast to coast the electorate chose debauchery and an expanding welfare state. (they may not have thought that was what they were voting for, but make no mistake...)...

(AP) - Government leaders are turning their attention to the next crisis unfolding in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy: finding housing for potentially tens of thousands of people left homeless. The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it has already dispensed close to $200 million in emergency housing assistance and has put 34,000 people in the New York and New Jersey metropolitan area up in hotels and motels. But local, state and federal officials have yet to lay out a specific, comprehensive plan for finding them long-term places to live, even as cold weather sets in. And given the scarcity and...

Being prepared for disaster is a way of life for many American preppers, but there are also many people throughout the Nation completely unprepared for the unthinkable. Those who are unprepared become easy targets for victimization. Since Superstorm Sandy struck New York, there have been hundreds of reports of price gouging in the area as frantic city-dwellers rush about in search of basic supplies. New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Monday that he was in the process of investigating more than 400 possible cases of price gouging as prices on things like gasoline, food, bottled water, generators, batteries...

Grid-Down Collapse: Hard Assets Soar In Value Mac Slavo November 5th, 2012By all accounts, the residents of many hurricane stricken areas of the north east are in the midst of a collapse. While FEMA, the National Guard and private relief organizations are in place and providing some level of assistance, the fact of the matter is that for tens of thousands of Americans, the world as they knew it has completely collapsed around them. What we are witnessing are the immediate after-effects of what is referred to as a grid-down scenario, where utility infrastructure like water and electricity, transportation infrastructure...

Whether you’re a prepper or an outdoor enthusiast who likes to get away from the modern world for days at a time, you know that there are still a pesky few electronic devices that you would like to keep charged even when a power source is miles away. There are several options like solar panels and hand cranks for providing off-grid power; but often — for preppers and backpackers alike — space is a major concern when already packing a heft of gear. A new camp stove design by a company called BioLite, however, can help you keep your pack...

In darkened neighborhoods, people walked around with miner's lamps on their foreheads and bicycle lights clipped to shoulder bags and, in at least one case, to a dog's collar. A Manhattan handyman opened a fire hydrant so people could collect water to flush toilets. "You can clearly tell at the office, or even walking down the street, who has power and who doesn't," said Jordan Spiro, who lives in the blackout zone. "New Yorkers may not be known as the friendliest bunch, but take away their ability to shower and communicate and you'll see how disgruntled they can get."

A wave a looters followed the Sandy storm surge in Coney Island, creating a double-whammy for business owners trying to pick up the obliterated pieces. The thieves started down Mermaid Avenue Tuesday morning as the chest-high water receded, turning the seaside community known for its hotdogs and tourist attractions into a lawless free-for-all. "People were running in and out of Rent-A-Center carrying these big flat screens. They were holding on tight," said witness Aisha John, 20. "I couldn't understand how someone could steal a big TV in broad daylight, but no one cared.” She said people were running out of...

Water is everywhere in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy – in basements, on the streets and in transit systems – but the one place that flood water is most dangerous is in your body. ABC News chief health and medical editor Dr. Richard Besser collected floodwater and drinking water in some of the areas hit hardest by Sandy and had them tested at The Ambient Group lab. The floodwater collected in Lower Manhattan tested positive for gasoline and two types of bacteria found in sewage: E. coli and coliform. “Very dangerous,” Besser said. “Make sure you wear protective gear if...

Just how prepared should you be to ride out a disaster, man-made or otherwise? For purposes of this thread, we'll define the various levels of "prepping" as follows, mostly dependent on how long you can "ride it out" before needing to leave your home or receive aid from the authorities: Level 0: Nothin'. Your emergency supplies consist of half a box of Cheerios and a cigarette lighter. In case of disaster, you'll be first in line for some government-issue MREs and a seat at a football stadium. Level 1: While you don't keep things at home with disasters in mind,...

Tempers Flare: Residents Complain Government Is Too Slow Distributing Food And Supplies Mac Slavo October 31st, 2012 Hurricane Sandy made landfall just 36 hours ago and already we’ve received reports of looting in hard-hit areas with some people brazenly taking to Twitter to post pictures of their new found wealth. Ahead of the storm panic buying left grocery and hardware store shelves empty as concerned residents stocked up on food, water, batteries, flashlights, and generators. With the run on supplies over the weekend, tens of thousands of people were inevitably left without essential survival items due to shortages across the...

This Is What You Should Have At Home When The Frankenstorm Hits Adam TaylorOctober 27, 2012 There's a real possibility that Hurricane Sandy, aka the "Frankenstorm", could cause serious disruption to major metropolitan areas in the North East states in the next few days. As such, its better to be over-prepared than under-prepared. NYC.gov has some suggestions for a Emergency Supply Kit that you can keep at home: One gallon of drinking water per person per day Non-perishable, ready-to-eat canned foods and manual can opener First aid kit Flashlight* Battery-operated AM/FM radio and extra batteries (you can also buy wind-up...

According to the United Nations, world grain reserves are so dangerously low that severe weather in the United States or other food-exporting countries could trigger a major hunger crisis next year.Check the labels on the food you buy the next time youÂ’re in the supermarket; youÂ’ll see that it has traveled a long way to get to you. The sad truth is that the majority of food products we buy are not produced locally. They came from countries such as China, Taiwan, Mexico, Brazil, Peru and Italy. This has significant consequences for us because it makes us dependent on these...

A giant wave of super-hot solar plasma larger than the Earth erupted from the sun on Friday (Oct. 19) in a spectacular display captured by a NASA spacecraft. The huge solar prominence occurred at 4:15 a.m. EDT (0815 GMT) and was recorded in amazing detail by the high-definition cameras aboard NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory before escaping the sun. "Once it started breaking away, the process only took 10 hours before it was out of sight," NASA media specialist Steele Hill explained in a photo description. "The prominence stretched out many times the size of Earth." The Solar Dynamics Observatory showed...

The “Twitter-verse” erupted this week with threats to riot or assassinate Mitt Romney should President Barack Obama lose the Nov. 6 election.This brings up a few questions. Is this a reflection of real outrage being felt in the black community? If it’s real, does it reflect the sentiment of a small or a large segment of the black community? Or is this manufactured outrage being used for a broader purpose?Americans have rioted before for lesser reasons. Simply having their favorite team win the Super Bowl or World Series has led to riots in cities like Boston, Detroit, Denver and Los...

Regardless of who the President is after this close election, the equity markets and the U.S. economy are in trouble. Debt has spread throughout the Western world. The fallout is political dissonance, growing economic hardship and, in some places, mob violence.Ground zero for the spreading fear and panic is Greece, which was once the worldÂ’s greatest civilization and the birthplace of democracy, poetry and philosophy.There is violent evidence of the contradiction from what the ancients taught and what is unraveling in Greece. It would all just be another boring story at the end of the news day, except there is...